In August, the Trump administration said it was on track to meet its commitment of roughly doubling nondefense research and development spending on AI and quantum information sciences between 2020 and 2022. The White House in February outlined a plan for annual spending on AI to rise to more than $2 billion between 2020 and 2022, and funding for quantum information science to increase to $860 million over that period. Quantum information science is an area of study that includes quantum-based cryptography, communication and quantum computing. "Both parties realize we need to be competitive in these areas," said Ray Wang, an analyst with Constellation Research Inc., a research and advisory firm. The Biden administration is expected to invest more money in AI and quantum information science, in part because overall spending on research and development is expected to be higher, said Robert D. Atkinson, president of the ITIF.

The Trump administration has released a sweeping strategy outlining steps the executive branch can take to promote and protect the country's competitive advantage on emerging technologies. The White House issued its National Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technologies on Thursday, setting out policy goals for fields that include artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and military and space technologies. The strategy doesn't set specific measures like some of President Donald Trump's executive orders focused on AI and quantum science, but senior administration officials told reporters the strategy signals a new level of coordination among agencies. Priority actions in the strategy include increasing the priority of federal R&D in annual appropriations, accelerating the adoption of emerging technology within agencies and recruiting a workforce with in-demand science and technology skills. Insight by Micro Focus Government Solutions: Learn how NGA is working with artificial intelligence, the adoption of zero trust and how the agency keeps its employees safe from cyber threats in this free webinar.

The National Science Foundation and other federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Agriculture will invest $140 million in seven institutes focused on AI, while the Energy Department will supervise and invest $625 million in the five institutes focused on quantum information sciences, which includes quantum computing. The DOE's investment will be matched by $300 million in private contributions, part of which comes in the form of technology-services donations from International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp., and other companies. The news comes on the heels of the Trump administration's proposal to spend about 30% more in the 2021 nondefense budget for artificial intelligence and quantum information science. It also coincides with competitive pressure from China and other countries that are investing in these emerging technologies. China is adopting AI at a faster rate than the U.S. and the European Union, according to a 2019 report released by the Center for Data Innovation, a nonpartisan research institute.

A report released today by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) shows the Trump administration is proposing to increase non-defense R&D spending on artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum information science by 30% next year, taking the total to $2.2 billion. The news comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions between the United States and China over a range of technology issues, including a U.S. move to force popular Chinese-owned social media app TikTok to sell its American operations and another to frustrate the international expansion efforts of Chinese telecoms giants such as Huawei. Both countries see AI and quantum information science, which includes quantum computing and quantum-encrypted communications, as central to their future military and economic success. Military investment in AI and quantum science has been rising for some time. Speaking at a recent Forbes CIO event, Dana Deasy, the CIO of the U.S. Department of Defense, noted that battlefield commanders will need help with processing the mountains of data flowing into them in any future conflicts.

The proposal includes funding to develop AI research institutes, formed by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Agriculture and other agencies, the administration said. It also includes $25 million in funding for the Energy Department to build an early-stage quantum internet, which uses the principles of quantum mechanics to more securely transmit data. AI and quantum information science, an area of study that includes quantum-based cryptography, communication and quantum computing, are critical for economic growth and national security, said Michael Kratsios, U.S. chief technology officer. "We need to make sure we're winning and leading in the technologies of today…and also in technology that will define our future," Mr. Kratsios said. The White House's fiscal year 2021 budget proposal includes $1.5 billion for AI, up from about $1.12 billion in 2020, and $699 million for quantum information science, up from about $579 million in 2020.

We may remember 2018 as a year in which great power rivalry materialized at the forefront of American strategy -- with emerging technologies as a critical dimension of this competition. At a time when divisive politics and intense partisanship have undermined solutions to even the most urgent policy dilemmas, there are reasons nonetheless for cautious optimism about the potential for progress on issues of technology, innovation and competition. The current advances in emerging technologies possess strategic significance in their own right, yet take on greater urgency because of this rivalry. Such new frontiers as biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), fifth-generation mobile communications (5G), and quantum computing are integral to economic competitiveness and are also the "very technologies that ensure we will be able to fight and win the wars of the future," according to the U.S. National Defense Strategy. Today, traditional American leadership is contested, as China emerges as a powerhouse in science and technology, with aspirations to become a global leader in innovation.

A century ago, the quantum revolution quietly began to change our lives. A deeper understanding of the behavior of matter and light at atomic and subatomic scales sparked a new field of science that would vastly change the world's technology landscape. Today, we rely upon the science of quantum mechanics for applications ranging from the Global Positioning System to magnetic resonance imaging to the transistor. The advent of quantum computers presages yet another new chapter in this story that will enable us to not only predict and improve chemical reactions and new materials and their properties, for example, but also to provide insights into the emergence of spacetime and our universe. Remarkably, these advances may begin to be realized in a few years.